What do you think?
Rate this book
Center Books in Anabaptist Studies
The Riddle of Amish Culture
Since its publication in 1989, The Riddle of Amish Culture has become recognized as a classic work on one of America's most distinctive religious communities. But many changes have occurred within Amish society over the past decade, from westward migrations and a greater familiarity with technology to the dramatic shift away from farming into small business which is transforming Amish culture. For this revised edition, Donald B. Kraybill has taken these recent changes into account, incorporating new demographic research and new interviews he has conducted among the Amish. In addition, he includes a new chapter describing Amish recreation and social gatherings, and he applies the concept of "social capital" to his sensitive and penetrating interpretation of how the Amish have preserved their social networks and the solidarity of their community.
424 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 1989
28 people are currently reading
509 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
November 14, 2016
A while ago, I stumbled upon an article about the Amish.
Written by a futurist, his proposition was that the Amish are unique in how they adapt new technology. In contrast to all other societies, the Amish consciously judge each new advance whether it furthers the goals of their community. This interested me so much that I decided to investigate. After a brief search the title of this book drew me: The Riddle of Amish Culture.
The book is written by Donald B Kraybill. A Distinguished Professor and a leading authority on the Old Order Amish... or so Wikipedia claims. In any case, the style is very approachable, yet the book is properly cited and rigour is maintained. If I had any complaints to style and not substance of the book - it's that the author repeats himself somewhat. Sometimes full paragraphs are repeated two or three times verbatim throughout the book.
The content of the book is great, though!
The author tries to dispel common misconceptions about the Amish and shed some light on their day-to-day life. Seemingly, no stone is left unturned. We read about births and funerals; courtship rituals and marriage; childhood, adolescence, and maturity; typical religious services and baptism; the history of the Old Older Amish from their days of persecution in Switzerland to schisms and economic and political woes in the USA.
The Amish stem from a sect of Anabaptists known as the Mennonites. The Mennonites emphasized shunning as a form of social control. With strong background in isolation and farming they escaped religious persecution in Switzerland and carried their legacy to the New World. Their society is shaped by a few, more or less formal, dictates. An Amishman must be humble, obedient and hard working. Religious service is limited to homes, and not special places of worship. Amish society tries to separate itself from the outside world but social ties within family and within the community are emphasized. Abstract, non-practical thought is shunned but practical thinking is cherished.
From those axioms we can deduce other peculiarities of their culture. The emphasis of humility explains the characteristic plain-looking clothes of the Amish. Their disdain for abstract thought means that Amish children don't frequent high-school or university. Teenagers work with their fathers and brothers as a form of apprenticeship - either in farming or as blacksmiths, carpenters or other manual laborers. Amish society deemphasizes individualism - everyone must subject to the will of the majority. The practice of having religious services at the homes of the community (each home will be visited once a year) is about socialization but is also a form of checking up and social control.
The last chapter goes into cultural relativism, something I didn't like at all. Not all societies are equal and some values are better than others. But we can praise the Amish for things they do right, and acknowledge the things they do wrong, while not equating their society with others.
Mental illness is virtually unheard of in the Amish. The sick, and elderly are cared for. Unemployment is inexistent and the Amish boast a 90% success rate for their entrepreneurs (compared an under 50% national average). The Amish are self reliant in almost every way.
Above all, I was impressed, how those down-to earth people exhibit thinking that seems so absent in today's life. The Amish are aware how incentives influence behavior and to look at "that which is not seen", as Bastiat would say. Though telephones and cars, are not considered evil per se, the Amish know the long term effects of their introduction. Cars in the long run introduce urban sprawl and shatter family ties. Telephones reduce the amount of face to face contact. Because socializing and close relations are important to the Amish, they collectively decided to shun cars and telephones, though not their use.
Similarly the Amish don't pay social service. Not "because they hate old people" or because "they're greedy" but because they know that the long term effects of social security is destroying the family unit. The community takes care of their own. It's astounding to me, that a society that doesn't value higher education turned out to be so excellent at social engineering.
I was also impressed by how the Amish taboos aren't absolute. Unlike other sects, which sometimes risk their members, there's almost no absolute taboos for the Amish. Both economical and ethical compromises are taken on a day to day basis, some of which may be puzzling: banning of cars but allowing electric mobility chairs, or banning combines but allowing heavy machinery to be pulled by horses.
All in all, The Riddle of Amish Culture is an excellent book about an interesting people. If you're interested in the Amish themselves, sociology, social engineering or even economy - I'd highly recommend it!
Written by a futurist, his proposition was that the Amish are unique in how they adapt new technology. In contrast to all other societies, the Amish consciously judge each new advance whether it furthers the goals of their community. This interested me so much that I decided to investigate. After a brief search the title of this book drew me: The Riddle of Amish Culture.
The book is written by Donald B Kraybill. A Distinguished Professor and a leading authority on the Old Order Amish... or so Wikipedia claims. In any case, the style is very approachable, yet the book is properly cited and rigour is maintained. If I had any complaints to style and not substance of the book - it's that the author repeats himself somewhat. Sometimes full paragraphs are repeated two or three times verbatim throughout the book.
The content of the book is great, though!
The author tries to dispel common misconceptions about the Amish and shed some light on their day-to-day life. Seemingly, no stone is left unturned. We read about births and funerals; courtship rituals and marriage; childhood, adolescence, and maturity; typical religious services and baptism; the history of the Old Older Amish from their days of persecution in Switzerland to schisms and economic and political woes in the USA.
The Amish stem from a sect of Anabaptists known as the Mennonites. The Mennonites emphasized shunning as a form of social control. With strong background in isolation and farming they escaped religious persecution in Switzerland and carried their legacy to the New World. Their society is shaped by a few, more or less formal, dictates. An Amishman must be humble, obedient and hard working. Religious service is limited to homes, and not special places of worship. Amish society tries to separate itself from the outside world but social ties within family and within the community are emphasized. Abstract, non-practical thought is shunned but practical thinking is cherished.
From those axioms we can deduce other peculiarities of their culture. The emphasis of humility explains the characteristic plain-looking clothes of the Amish. Their disdain for abstract thought means that Amish children don't frequent high-school or university. Teenagers work with their fathers and brothers as a form of apprenticeship - either in farming or as blacksmiths, carpenters or other manual laborers. Amish society deemphasizes individualism - everyone must subject to the will of the majority. The practice of having religious services at the homes of the community (each home will be visited once a year) is about socialization but is also a form of checking up and social control.
The last chapter goes into cultural relativism, something I didn't like at all. Not all societies are equal and some values are better than others. But we can praise the Amish for things they do right, and acknowledge the things they do wrong, while not equating their society with others.
Mental illness is virtually unheard of in the Amish. The sick, and elderly are cared for. Unemployment is inexistent and the Amish boast a 90% success rate for their entrepreneurs (compared an under 50% national average). The Amish are self reliant in almost every way.
Above all, I was impressed, how those down-to earth people exhibit thinking that seems so absent in today's life. The Amish are aware how incentives influence behavior and to look at "that which is not seen", as Bastiat would say. Though telephones and cars, are not considered evil per se, the Amish know the long term effects of their introduction. Cars in the long run introduce urban sprawl and shatter family ties. Telephones reduce the amount of face to face contact. Because socializing and close relations are important to the Amish, they collectively decided to shun cars and telephones, though not their use.
Similarly the Amish don't pay social service. Not "because they hate old people" or because "they're greedy" but because they know that the long term effects of social security is destroying the family unit. The community takes care of their own. It's astounding to me, that a society that doesn't value higher education turned out to be so excellent at social engineering.
I was also impressed by how the Amish taboos aren't absolute. Unlike other sects, which sometimes risk their members, there's almost no absolute taboos for the Amish. Both economical and ethical compromises are taken on a day to day basis, some of which may be puzzling: banning of cars but allowing electric mobility chairs, or banning combines but allowing heavy machinery to be pulled by horses.
All in all, The Riddle of Amish Culture is an excellent book about an interesting people. If you're interested in the Amish themselves, sociology, social engineering or even economy - I'd highly recommend it!
January 18, 2008
Kraybill knows his topic. He's a prof. at Messiah College, a top-drawer evangelial school with Anabaptist/Brethren roots, located near PA Amish country. He has studied and written on the Amish since the mid-80s. He is also a clear communicator, able to summarize complicated material with ease.
He is clearly very sympathetic to most of the Amish distinctives, though he is able to maintain a critical stance.
To me the Amish are more than simply a curious cultural oddity. They offer some insights into ways for Christians to confront and stand apart from Modernity and materialism. Though Kraybill shows, they may be subtly Modernist in their very rejection of Modernity.
The Amish are also important as an example of an extreme Anabaptist tradition. The 16th century European Xianity can be divided into three groups: Roman Caholics, Reformation, and Anabaptist. Surely the latter, while smallest of the three in the 16th cent., has long been ascending in contemporary America. Anabaptist distinctives -- sectarianism, believer baptism, emphasis on piety over intellect, anticlerical, antisacramental, democratic in church polity, etc. -- are now dominant in American evangelicalism. How important then to understand the Amish, as a fairly well-preserved example of the early Anabaptist tradition.
Anyway, wonderful book. Worth repeated readings.
He is clearly very sympathetic to most of the Amish distinctives, though he is able to maintain a critical stance.
To me the Amish are more than simply a curious cultural oddity. They offer some insights into ways for Christians to confront and stand apart from Modernity and materialism. Though Kraybill shows, they may be subtly Modernist in their very rejection of Modernity.
The Amish are also important as an example of an extreme Anabaptist tradition. The 16th century European Xianity can be divided into three groups: Roman Caholics, Reformation, and Anabaptist. Surely the latter, while smallest of the three in the 16th cent., has long been ascending in contemporary America. Anabaptist distinctives -- sectarianism, believer baptism, emphasis on piety over intellect, anticlerical, antisacramental, democratic in church polity, etc. -- are now dominant in American evangelicalism. How important then to understand the Amish, as a fairly well-preserved example of the early Anabaptist tradition.
Anyway, wonderful book. Worth repeated readings.
June 2, 2007
I found this book at a political science conference, and it looked interesting, so I grabbed it for fun reading. It's one of the best ethnographic studies I have ever read, and I learned a lot about the subtleties of the Amish way of life, and why the Amish avoid, in many cases, electricity, phones, motorized equipment, and the like. But the Amish are not the cute tourist props most people seem to think they are--their culture is rich, complex, and worthy of knowing more about.
October 23, 2016
I grew up in the late 50's and 60's in SE Pennsylvania at the fringes of Amish country. It was a rare sight to see an Amish horse and buggy in those days. Last week, on a beautiful autumn Sunday, driving a seven mile stretch of PA 372 southwest of Lancaster I lost count after passing more than two dozen buggies.
It was probably visiting Sunday, not a church Sunday. I could not have reached that conclusion had I not just finished reading Donald Kraybill's comprehensive documentary about the enigmatic ways of the Amish people.
I had been away from the area for fifty years and just recently returned to help my Mom and Dad during and after my Dad's final illness. The Amish population had multiplied seven-fold in those years. With such a significant presence around me, I thought it would be worthwhile to read up on these people in order to get a quick education on 'what makes them tick'. Kraybill's book was recommended, by name, within the fictional text of 'The Atonement' by Beverly Lewis, a novel about an Amish woman with a secret past, which I've reviewed here already. The book has wonderfully filled many of the gaps in my understanding. It is a comprehensive resource, and I recommend it.
What this book will not do is give you any understanding about what it feels like to be Amish, or what their day-to-day life is like. What this book does is provide an academician's clinical, scholarly perspective on the culture and beliefs of this sect that has successfully remained separate from the American mainstream but yet has managed to integrate smoothly into the greater society whose values it largely rejects.
Kraybill's main purpose seems to be to explain how the Amish have managed to do that, how they have maintained a viable community on their own terms despite prohibiting education beyond the 8th grade, despite avoiding owning automobiles, despite prohibiting electricity in their homes, and despite becoming a major tourist attraction for the region.
In a nutshell, the Amish do change and adapt to changing times and technology. While hiking I would frequently see Amish in their farm fields pulling modern farm implements with draft horses, as many as six and eight. The wheels on those implements are always steel, not rubber. I could clearly hear the sound of a gasoline engine, mounted on the implement, operating the machinery. When driving past an Amish farm there are no electric wires running from power poles, but their pastures are encircled with electric fences. Propane tanks are prominent beside the large, neat homes. And I frequently would hear the sound of a large generator humming beside the barn.
The changes to the Amish 'Ordnung,' their oral code of conduct, are selective, slow to evolve, and made to balance their deeply ingrained 'Gelassenheit' (humility) and their strict interpretation of biblical canon with the practical reality that they need to make a living. I won't provide 'spoilers' by explaining further. Suffice it to say that Kraybill manages to very successfully 'crack the code' or solve the Riddle.
The book is a 2001 update of the original 1989 volume. It is about time for another update. Though the Amish seem to be thriving, the Lancaster settlement continues to face challenges, not the least of which is their burgeoning, indeed exploding, population. The average Amish family has six to eight children. Their population doubles with each new generation. All these new 'plain folk' need to make a living. Traditionally they were farmers, but God's not making more land, and suburban development around Lancaster is raising land values and turning farm land into housing subdivisions.
Bottom line: The fate of the Amish Culture remains uncertain. Their story is an ongoing, dynamic one, and it's fascinating. They are adapting to the twenty-first century in some surprising ways, and Kraybill provides an excellent guide to understanding these sometimes enigmatic practices. His 2001 edition remains relevant and highly informative, but for how much longer?
It was probably visiting Sunday, not a church Sunday. I could not have reached that conclusion had I not just finished reading Donald Kraybill's comprehensive documentary about the enigmatic ways of the Amish people.
I had been away from the area for fifty years and just recently returned to help my Mom and Dad during and after my Dad's final illness. The Amish population had multiplied seven-fold in those years. With such a significant presence around me, I thought it would be worthwhile to read up on these people in order to get a quick education on 'what makes them tick'. Kraybill's book was recommended, by name, within the fictional text of 'The Atonement' by Beverly Lewis, a novel about an Amish woman with a secret past, which I've reviewed here already. The book has wonderfully filled many of the gaps in my understanding. It is a comprehensive resource, and I recommend it.
What this book will not do is give you any understanding about what it feels like to be Amish, or what their day-to-day life is like. What this book does is provide an academician's clinical, scholarly perspective on the culture and beliefs of this sect that has successfully remained separate from the American mainstream but yet has managed to integrate smoothly into the greater society whose values it largely rejects.
Kraybill's main purpose seems to be to explain how the Amish have managed to do that, how they have maintained a viable community on their own terms despite prohibiting education beyond the 8th grade, despite avoiding owning automobiles, despite prohibiting electricity in their homes, and despite becoming a major tourist attraction for the region.
In a nutshell, the Amish do change and adapt to changing times and technology. While hiking I would frequently see Amish in their farm fields pulling modern farm implements with draft horses, as many as six and eight. The wheels on those implements are always steel, not rubber. I could clearly hear the sound of a gasoline engine, mounted on the implement, operating the machinery. When driving past an Amish farm there are no electric wires running from power poles, but their pastures are encircled with electric fences. Propane tanks are prominent beside the large, neat homes. And I frequently would hear the sound of a large generator humming beside the barn.
The changes to the Amish 'Ordnung,' their oral code of conduct, are selective, slow to evolve, and made to balance their deeply ingrained 'Gelassenheit' (humility) and their strict interpretation of biblical canon with the practical reality that they need to make a living. I won't provide 'spoilers' by explaining further. Suffice it to say that Kraybill manages to very successfully 'crack the code' or solve the Riddle.
The book is a 2001 update of the original 1989 volume. It is about time for another update. Though the Amish seem to be thriving, the Lancaster settlement continues to face challenges, not the least of which is their burgeoning, indeed exploding, population. The average Amish family has six to eight children. Their population doubles with each new generation. All these new 'plain folk' need to make a living. Traditionally they were farmers, but God's not making more land, and suburban development around Lancaster is raising land values and turning farm land into housing subdivisions.
Bottom line: The fate of the Amish Culture remains uncertain. Their story is an ongoing, dynamic one, and it's fascinating. They are adapting to the twenty-first century in some surprising ways, and Kraybill provides an excellent guide to understanding these sometimes enigmatic practices. His 2001 edition remains relevant and highly informative, but for how much longer?
September 1, 2021
A little repetitive, but I think that was due to the way it was organized. I am fascinated by the Amish ways of insulating themselves from the world, their commitment to separate from the world, their commitment to community, and their fight to be free of government interference in their way of life. I think the greater Christian culture could learn a lot from them. The Christian culture, in general, doesn't ask much of the average Christian. Kraybill points out that a culture that requires much from its members will be more valuable to them because of that. "Groups that demand very little will not be valued very highly by their members." (p 30) I don't agree with all of their doctrinal beliefs, but I admire the way they live out their faith. Community, modesty, frugality, humility, hard work, hospitality, a focus at home, slow paced, intentionally small scale...really, intentional about everything...much to admire and implement in our "English" lives.
November 5, 2021
Wonderful in depth analysis of Amish culture explaining many features of it and the Amish explanation for them.
Worth archiving, as it gives a decent blueprint of this fairly sustainable, even if incomplete society.
Worth archiving, as it gives a decent blueprint of this fairly sustainable, even if incomplete society.
July 19, 2016
Despite the occasional textbook feel and tone of this book, the subject matter drew me in throughout. Kraybill takes years and years of careful research and crafts it into a remarkably readable and informative study on the Amish, particularly in Lancaster County. He treats this unique community with grace, interest and detail, by describing and analyzing the many facets of the Amish: dress, worship, work, family, etc. These are not a one-dimensional people who strictly or blindly adhere to a set of beliefs and moral codes. They take their choices seriously and over time continue to hold to their values of community, humility and faith in God.
Kraybill certainly comes with a bias, having lived near the Amish for much of his life, and having spent more than fifteen years researching them. However, I find his tone and love for the Amish culture honest and helpful.
I especially appreciated Kraybill’s consideration of the “riddle”—as suggested by the title and cover photo—throughout the book. Many people may see contradictions in what the Amish do (using machines but not cars, modern kitchens but not electricity, etc.), but Kraybill takes great pains to demonstrate that each of these seeming contradictions has a deeper purpose that the Amish have deliberately chosen. At times these questions get a bit repetitive or over emphasized.
Kraybill’s overall analysis and questions in the final chapter beautifully compare and contrast the Amish culture with modern culture. I think this final chapter was worth the whole book, and led me to consider the choices and individualism we so value in our modern culture versus the seeming lack of choice and intense community of the Amish.
Kraybill certainly comes with a bias, having lived near the Amish for much of his life, and having spent more than fifteen years researching them. However, I find his tone and love for the Amish culture honest and helpful.
I especially appreciated Kraybill’s consideration of the “riddle”—as suggested by the title and cover photo—throughout the book. Many people may see contradictions in what the Amish do (using machines but not cars, modern kitchens but not electricity, etc.), but Kraybill takes great pains to demonstrate that each of these seeming contradictions has a deeper purpose that the Amish have deliberately chosen. At times these questions get a bit repetitive or over emphasized.
Kraybill’s overall analysis and questions in the final chapter beautifully compare and contrast the Amish culture with modern culture. I think this final chapter was worth the whole book, and led me to consider the choices and individualism we so value in our modern culture versus the seeming lack of choice and intense community of the Amish.
Read
July 25, 2009I bought this book at a Mennonite-Amish visitors' center -- the girls and I learned that these centers were run by Mennonites, so most of the books were about that faith and its traditions and practices. I was searching for an "outside" scholar, so I settled on this book by Kraybill (who has written many books about the Amish) published by Johns Hopkins U. Press (most of his works are published by a Mennonite press).
It definitely answered our questions about the Amish we have glimpsed on our travels: carting a gas grill, shopping at Target, wearing sneakers. In other words, reading it helped me to broaden my knowledge beyond the film Witness.
Kraybill considers women and gender in this book -- not in depth, because there is not a lot of source material for this issue, but all of it was interesting. He rightly assumes that traditional roles do not mean degradation for women, but he doesn't assume that the women are happy with all the changes, or lack of changes, in Amish culture.
It definitely answered our questions about the Amish we have glimpsed on our travels: carting a gas grill, shopping at Target, wearing sneakers. In other words, reading it helped me to broaden my knowledge beyond the film Witness.
Kraybill considers women and gender in this book -- not in depth, because there is not a lot of source material for this issue, but all of it was interesting. He rightly assumes that traditional roles do not mean degradation for women, but he doesn't assume that the women are happy with all the changes, or lack of changes, in Amish culture.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
April 21, 2009The Riddle Of Amish Culture
Donald B. Kraybill
Fiction
332 pages
copyright: 2001
isbn: 0-8018-6772-x
Since its publication in 1989, The Riddle of Amish Culture has become recognized as a classic work on one of America's most distinctive religious communities. But many changes have occurred within Amish society over the past decade, from westward migrations and a greater familiarity with technology to the dramatic shift away from farming into small business which is transforming Amish culture. For this revised edition, Donald B. Kraybill has taken these recent changes into account, incorporating new demographic research and new interviews he has conducted among the Amish. In addition, he includes a new chapter describing Amish recreation and social gatherings, and he applies the concept of "social capital" to his sensitive and penetrating interpretation of how the Amish have preserved their social networks and the solidarity of their community.
Donald B. Kraybill
Fiction
332 pages
copyright: 2001
isbn: 0-8018-6772-x
Since its publication in 1989, The Riddle of Amish Culture has become recognized as a classic work on one of America's most distinctive religious communities. But many changes have occurred within Amish society over the past decade, from westward migrations and a greater familiarity with technology to the dramatic shift away from farming into small business which is transforming Amish culture. For this revised edition, Donald B. Kraybill has taken these recent changes into account, incorporating new demographic research and new interviews he has conducted among the Amish. In addition, he includes a new chapter describing Amish recreation and social gatherings, and he applies the concept of "social capital" to his sensitive and penetrating interpretation of how the Amish have preserved their social networks and the solidarity of their community.
May 14, 2015
Am Amish friend recommended author Donald Kraybill as "someone who knows more about the Amish than the Amish do". Although he hadn't read this particular book, it seemed like a good starting point. While the examples are focused on the Pennsylvania Amish so don't always agree with our Michigan congregation's way of doing things, the basic culture is the same. I learned much of the reasoning behind many of the Amish customs. The concept of Gelassenheit especially resonates. And I agree with Dr. Kraybill's conclusion: "Hidden within our common riddle is the hope of a new social order, a 'home' that taps both the achievements of modernity and the wisdom of Amish life." Next I'm loaning the book to my Amish friend so he can tell me where the author got it wrong.
May 5, 2016
Although a bit dated, this book is still a good read, especially for a person like myself who is immersed in Mennonitism and married to a 4th-generation-ex-Amish. Maybe being a classic takes it off the "dated" list?
Are we an off-shoot of the Amish or vice-versa? Are we 100 years ahead of the Amish culturally or 100 years behind, a question not asked explicitly but answered eloquently in the book's final chapter, "The Dialogue with Modernity." This stand-alone chapter is well worth reading even if you do not have the time or stamina to read the whole 304 pp book.
The book bridges well the popular/scholarly divide. It is by a college sociology professor (Elizabethtown PA), lifetime Lancaster County PA resident, Amish friend and expert and is well annotated and documented.
Are we an off-shoot of the Amish or vice-versa? Are we 100 years ahead of the Amish culturally or 100 years behind, a question not asked explicitly but answered eloquently in the book's final chapter, "The Dialogue with Modernity." This stand-alone chapter is well worth reading even if you do not have the time or stamina to read the whole 304 pp book.
The book bridges well the popular/scholarly divide. It is by a college sociology professor (Elizabethtown PA), lifetime Lancaster County PA resident, Amish friend and expert and is well annotated and documented.
February 10, 2015
An excellent, thoughtful, and comprehensive analysis of the cultural dynamics of Old Order Amish communities, with a particular focus on Lancaster County. It manages to be both scholarly and thoroughly readable, providing insights into the unique social and personal dynamics of life in those unique communities.
I've studied and read on Amish life for years, and even so, managed to learn a thing or two. Or three. If you're interested in pushing past the pastel-colored illusions and getting a deeper sense of the complex history and reality of this fascinating folk, this is well worth your time.
I've studied and read on Amish life for years, and even so, managed to learn a thing or two. Or three. If you're interested in pushing past the pastel-colored illusions and getting a deeper sense of the complex history and reality of this fascinating folk, this is well worth your time.
August 25, 2008
Excellent, sympathetic insights into Amish culture. Written in 1985, it's a little dated; even the Amish are a bit different now than they were then, as they've not escaped being affected by the existence of the Internet, by 9/11, by a school shooting a year or so ago, and so forth. But overall, this was an informative and readable book, well-written enough to hold my attention even when I was tired!
March 28, 2009
I have this fascination for the Amish culture. I am not sure where it comes from....but this book helped make my fascination...informative. The book was really interesting....but the last two chapters were a bit boring. I am not sure if it was because I was tired of reading the book or if the last two chapters ARE boring...but I enjoyed the first 200 pages and recommend the book to people who want to learn about Amish culture.
July 28, 2016
The book was a very interesting read and an excellent look at Amish culture and beliefs. It is written by some who is considered an expert in Anabaptist studies. It is a good look at their history, their beliefs, how they carry out these beliefs and even a comparison to the "moderns" (we who are not Amish.) It is somewhat like a text book, but it doesn't read like a text and isn't boring at all.
May 1, 2009
Having lived near Amish most of my life, this book has been invaluable to my understanding of these gentle people. Now it is clearer how the people in Lancaster County, PA handled the terrible tragedy of an "English" madman who went into a schoolhouse and killed and wounded small Amish children. And it also puts into words why I have been attracted to them and as a child often wanted to be Amish.
October 9, 2014
This is really the seminal work in Pennsylvanian Amish culture (and to an extent, Ohioan). If you're ever interested in learning more about the Amish, this is where you want to go. He delves not only into practice, but the reasons behind practice.
Kraybill is a cultural expert, and has many more books on the subject.
Kraybill is a cultural expert, and has many more books on the subject.
July 20, 2007
I went through a season of being super impressed with the Amish culture. This book helped me understand the way of life better. It is a basic understanding of the movement, and spurned me on to study more of the American utopian experiment communities such as the Shakers, and Zoar Village etc.
June 12, 2008
Purchased in Lancaster County, PA. VERY thorough, sometimes a bit wordy. I was fascinated when I was visiting there and wanted to learn more, and this was definitely a good guide to various aspects of Amish life, but was a bit "textbooky" for my taste.
Currently reading
March 10, 2010I tried to find books about the Quakers and their beliefs, as they're quite admirable. This is the closest book I could find.
October 5, 2010
I read this for a class. What an interesting culture. The author seems to be thoroughly versed in his subject, and is able to explain to the outsider the reasons for Amish practices.
April 25, 2012
Very interesting information on a fascinating society.
May 4, 2012
Very well written
September 16, 2012
Well written and interesting, this book gives a wonderful, respectful introduction to Amish culture without fetishizing it.
December 3, 2012
Good book. The chapter content is a bit redundant. But the book is very informative.
April 12, 2014
Answers many questions about the Amish and their way of life.
August 8, 2015
Slightly dry, but there's some good information in here. Kraybill's constant moralizing on Amish culture's superiority to Modern culture quickly grows tiresome, though.
December 27, 2015
3.5 stars. A required read for my anthropology course.
March 12, 2016
This book was very good. I learned a lot and loved the way it was written.
Read
June 23, 2019Note: I did not finish this book and i'm not sure if i'm going to because i don't want to be preached at for the remaining 300 or so pages. About midway through chapter 2 something triggered me. I spent some time thinking on it and realized that it was this statement on page 37: "Whereas evangelical Christians want to know, control, plan, and act to guarantee their salvation, the Amish outlook is a more modest and perhaps a more honest one." With this statement, the author shows a lack of understanding of Christianity and a bias toward the Amish. How is being obedient to the community because you had it beaten into you from childhood and now it is a "habit" (the authors word not mine) more "honest" than personally choosing Christianity because you love Christ? Surely, God knows which people (despite their titles as Christians or Amish) are just going through the motions (acting the part as the author implies) vs those who actually love Him. And keep in mind that "habits" are often just going through the motions so conclude from that what you wish. All the various sects of Christianity (including the Amish apparently) have their habits or traditions as people like to call them. I'm not sure that habits can be deemed honest or dishonest. In the way of traditions, i don't see the Amish as being all that different from their evangelical Christian cousins.
Second question regarding honesty: how is cutting yourself off from modern society so that you don't make the mistake of subjecting yourself to evil or the sin of becoming prideful a more "honest" way to salvation? Honesty is being a Christian in an evil and prideful society and remaining humble despite it! That is the basis of true Christianity. Jesus went out among the sinners, He did not cut himself away from them. The authors lack of understanding of Christianity makes me not want to finish this book despite my interest in the Amish people.
Second question regarding honesty: how is cutting yourself off from modern society so that you don't make the mistake of subjecting yourself to evil or the sin of becoming prideful a more "honest" way to salvation? Honesty is being a Christian in an evil and prideful society and remaining humble despite it! That is the basis of true Christianity. Jesus went out among the sinners, He did not cut himself away from them. The authors lack of understanding of Christianity makes me not want to finish this book despite my interest in the Amish people.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews